Armed Mongols in the Oratory of San Giorgio of Padua in the Late Fourteenth Century

The armed Mongols in the frescoes of Padua’s Oratory of San Giorgio by Altichiero remain misunderstood despite several scholarly studies. Beginning with the investigation of contemporary Chinese visual materials, a Persian manuscript, and western and non-western knights’ armour, this article analyses how Altichiero represented Mongolian armour and physiognomy. Their appearance in a Franciscan church supported by a family of knights suggests potential religious and political meanings. This article also explores how their political propaganda was visualized in this chapel by considering the military and political context of fourteenth-century Padua.